


Tough Guy

by ashscribbles



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Betty is friends with the Serpents, F/M, Nurse! Betty, Sweet Pea and Betty Cooper friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 12:55:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13077324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashscribbles/pseuds/ashscribbles
Summary: Betty Cooper had been fitting in well with The Serpents, her own boyfriend being one of them. She often helps patch up the injured Serpents, especially after fights with their rival gang, The Ghoulies.





	Tough Guy

**Author's Note:**

> This came to me after I saw a post on tumblr about Sweet Pea getting flustered when Betty helps clean up his wounds and I thought that was absolutely adorable. As usual, thank you to my girl @bughead-is-riverdale for helping out. Please leave comments on what you thought about this little drabble! Also, if you want to talk, come find me on tumblr @allthingsbughead <3

“It was The Ghoulies again. For fucks sake, I thought they would stop after we trashed them the last time,” Sweet Pea groaned as he held an ice bag to his swollen eye, blood still gushing from a small slash across his eyebrow. 

Jughead sighed as he listened to Sweet Pea recount what had happened to him on the way back to the White Wyrm. The Ghoulies had ambushed him out of nowhere and no one was there to save him, leaving him helpless against three rival gang members. These attacks have been coming at them randomly after The Serpents and The Ghoulies had a fight which resulted in a large triumph for The Serpents and a huge loss for The Ghoulies. 

“Hey!” A familiar voice rang out but soon trailed off when she realised a huge crowd gathering around a seat in the White Wyrm. 

She took in her surroundings, this being only the second time she had stepped into the White Wyrm to hang out with the Serpents. 

“What happened?” Betty asked, concerned as she approached her boyfriend who was in the centre of the large group beside Sweet Pea. 

“Ghoulies attacked again. This time it was Sweet Pea who had to endure their wrath.” Jughead sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. 

Betty gasped as she caught sight of Sweet Pea’s beaten up face and immediately rushed to the drawer beside the bar of the White Wyrm where the First-Aid kit was stored. As Jughead had become increasingly involved in the Serpents, she also had to help him more often, nursing him back to health while her heart broke each time she cradled her boyfriend’s wounded face in her hands. She rushed back to Sweet Pea and set the First-Aid kit on the counter Sweet Pea was leaning against, laying out all the necessary items to clean up the gash on his eyebrow. The whole time Sweet Pea was staring at her with wide eyes, his cocky attitude lost. 

“No…no...it’s...it’s alr-” He stuttered out but got cut off by Betty’s angelic voice before he could finish his sentence. 

“Just keep still, Sweet Pea. It’s going to hurt a little but it will be over soon,” Betty offered a reassuring smile in his direction before reaching out to hold his face still so she could use the sterile wash to clean his wound. 

Sweet Pea froze, blood rushing to his cheeks. Wide-eyed, he stood up abruptly, causing Betty to jump back a little in shock. Before Betty could even say anything, he pushed past Jughead and rushed towards the direction of the door. However, agile as he was during fights, his lanky legs caused him to trip over a stool and he crashed towards the ground. He quickly caught himself as his cheeks turned even redder and flew out the door of the White Wyrm. Everyone was quiet for a second as they recovered from what had just happened. Nobody had ever seen Sweet Pea, resident tough guy, act so flustered before. And certainly no one had ever seen him blush before. Suddenly, Jughead burst out in laughter, gripping the counter beside him to steady himself and effectively breaking the pin-dropping silence. Betty stared at him in confusion as Fangs joined in the laughter. 

“Was it something I did?” Betty’s nose scrunched up adorably, wondering what she had done that caused Sweet Pea to act in such a flustered manner. 

Jughead gasped in laughter as tears started to trickle down his cheeks from laughing so hard. He shook his head and held his hand up, signalling for her to give him a moment as he tried his best to calm down. 

“Who knew he was such a mess around girls when they get close, especially when they’re just trying to help and nothing else!” Fangs breathed out, between gasps of laughter. 

“I need to get some air,” Jughead wheezed, still roaring with laughter. “I’ll go check on our dear Sweet Pea as well.”

Betty was less amused by this whole situation, more concerned for Sweet Pea who still had blood oozing out of his gash at an alarming speed but nevertheless, she still let out a few small giggles at this situation. 

“We need you around more often, Sweetheart.” Fangs smiled at Betty after he had calmed down. 

The bell at the door rang again, signalling the return of Jughead and Sweet Pea, Jughead definitely significantly calmer than before and Sweet Pea with his cool exterior back on. 

“Sorry about that, I was just…” Sweet Pea trailed off as he approached Betty and Fangs, Jughead at his side. 

“Embarrassed? Flustered?” Jughead supplied, a new wave of laughter hitting him again.

“Dude, you should have seen your face.” Fangs attempted to mimic Sweet Pea’s flustered expression as he rushed out of the White Wyrm just minutes ago, eliciting a small laugh from Betty. 

Sweet Pea rolled his eyes and Betty pushed his shoulder lightly, prompting him to sit back down on the chair so that she could finally clean his wound. This time he didn’t protest and let her clean it up, wincing a few times when the sterile wash came into contact with the wound, causing it to sting. 

After she cleaned his wound, Jughead wrapped his arms around her from behind and pressed a kiss to her temple.

“You’re an angel, Juliet.” He whispered into her ear. 

Betty giggled as she leant up and pressed a kiss to his lips.   
“Thanks, Betty.” Sweet Pea smiled at her. “You truly are a big help around here.” 

Betty continued helping out around the White Wyrm after that incident, going there more often. She cleaned up after customers sometimes and aided anyone who was in need. Everyone gained a newfound respect and love for Betty and surprisingly, Betty’s closest friend in The Serpents after Jughead was Sweet Pea. Whenever Jughead was not around, Sweet Pea would be there, looking out for his new-found little sister whom he secretly had a soft spot for. He even started to beat up The Ghoulies once when they had taunted Betty when Betty and him were walking back to The White Wyrm together. That was, until Betty had asked him to stop because she could not bear the sight of someone getting injured because of her, which Sweet Pea responded to with a quick salute and a cheeky “yes boss!”. He even threatened Jughead once when Jughead retreated back into his shell, slapping some sense into him because how dare he hurt his little sister. 

A few years later, when they were all older and hanging out at a bar in New York instead of The White Wyrm, they had recounted what had happened between Betty and Sweet Pea as they were sipping on their drinks and Jughead’s arm was slung around his fiance’s shoulder. Like years before, they had laughed their asses off, this time with Sweet Pea joining in, albeit still with a roll of his eyes. So much had changed between them but their friendship still remained as strong as ever.


End file.
